EARNCon 2026

Call for Proposals is Now Open!

Submit Proposal

Please submit your proposals for this year’s conference before Friday, May 15th at 11:59pm.

We are excited to announce this call for proposals for EARNCon 2026. Annually hosted by EPI’s Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) and Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy (PREE), EARNCon brings together a rich community of researchers, policy advocates, labor leaders, and grassroots organizers committed to a worker-centered research and policy agenda that advances racial, gender, and economic justice at the state and local level.

This year’s EARNCon will take place September 30-October 2, 2026, in Washington, D.C.

EARNCon 2026 will bring state and local movement leaders together in the nation’s capital at a moment when our country is marking its 250th anniversary but its core values and institutions are in deep crisis. This year’s conference will celebrate our conviction that the country will never achieve the highest ideals of its founding until we truly center people, equity, and collective action.

Together, we will affirm our collective commitment to racial and gender equity, economic justice, and democracy, while sharpening state policy and organizing strategies that deliver an economy that works for all. With discussions on topics such as strengthening unions and workplace protections, building and sustaining robust public programs that safeguard economic security, and how community-labor organizing that can drive local policy change, EARNCon 2026 will be a place to learn, inspire, and unite against current threats while—from the ground up—setting a clear course towards a more perfect union.

We invite EARN groups, state and local policy advocates, labor and grassroots organizers, allied researchers, and other EPI partners to submit conference session proposals that will contribute to an enriching and engaging experience for all attendees.

All proposals must be submitted by 11:59pm ET on Friday, May 15^th, 2026.

Submit Proposal

Details and guidelines on how to submit your proposal can be found at the top of the proposal submission form.

If you have a session idea for something you would like to see at EARNCon but do not have a fully developed proposal, we encourage you to still submit your idea with as much detail as you can using the proposal submission form. If your idea is selected, we can work with you to build out the concept.

Additional conference information will be available here in the coming weeks. If you have any questions or concerns about registration or the conference, please email [email protected].

Help build the foundation to win state and local policies that advance racial, economic, and gender justice – become an EARNCon sponsor today! Learn more